Experiment #3: Clown Authority
A group of clowns try to instill authority and boundaries at a festival where there is none
CONTEXT
PLAY is a small, family friendly circus festival, comprising of 5 days of circus skills workshops and shows. Participants are circus enthusiasts; teachers, professionals and hobbyists who are happy to train their skills all day. The festival is safe with little or no security, the crew are part of the festival, not apart from the festival and so don’t dress differently. The rules are mostly implicit and the festival goers self-policing. In a discussion with workshop participants we came up with examples of implicit rules of the festival:
PLAY is a small, family friendly circus festival, comprising of 5 days of circus skills workshops and shows. Participants are circus enthusiasts; teachers, professionals and hobbyists who are happy to train their skills all day. The festival is safe with little or no security, the crew are part of the festival, not apart from the festival and so don’t dress differently. The rules are mostly implicit and the festival goers self-policing. In a discussion with workshop participants we came up with examples of implicit rules of the festival:
- No violence, nudity or peeing
- No outbursts of anger
- No stealing
No spiking people’s drinks. - Women being nice and not assertive. While women are weary of men being nice
- Awareness of personal boundaries. No genital grabbing
- No access to the house of the owners of the property. And no access backstage
RESISTANCE
When thinking about resistance I looked up some definitions. It is defined as the refusal to comply. It is also opposition to something and a push against or back. I came up with the following things that one might resist and its opposite transformed through resistance to it:
When thinking about resistance I looked up some definitions. It is defined as the refusal to comply. It is also opposition to something and a push against or back. I came up with the following things that one might resist and its opposite transformed through resistance to it:
To subvert the space I chose to focus on a particular element that the clowns could resist and oppose; the freedom of movement. Following a brief workshop which explored clown logic, status and boss clowns, I told the clowns that they were in charge of making the festival safer. They would need to put up more boundaries to protect participants from obstacles, flying objects or too much space.
ACTION
Outside on the grass at midday there is over 100 people juggling, spinning or relaxing and chatting. A group of clowns, dressed in high vis vests, doctor’s scrubs and white paper suits try to create more boundaries and safe practice amongst people at the festival. Three clowns station themselves at the stairs to ensure people descended safely by jumping down two feet at a time. Another team tapes out squares on the grass warning jugglers to remain inside for their safety and others. Another group encourages a father and daughter to lay down because of the dangers of potentially falling over.
Outside on the grass at midday there is over 100 people juggling, spinning or relaxing and chatting. A group of clowns, dressed in high vis vests, doctor’s scrubs and white paper suits try to create more boundaries and safe practice amongst people at the festival. Three clowns station themselves at the stairs to ensure people descended safely by jumping down two feet at a time. Another team tapes out squares on the grass warning jugglers to remain inside for their safety and others. Another group encourages a father and daughter to lay down because of the dangers of potentially falling over.
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
The clowns are enjoyed by those who watched and those who participated. Many accept the games proposed by the clowns actively participating in the safety procedures offered, while others passively allow themselves to kept within a taped out cordon. Some people are initially confused by the mixed signals of authority displayed by the safety vest. “People didn’t understand at first. They saw the high viz vest and saw it as authority. And then they saw the red nose and they clicked that it was a game.” An observer noted that the clowns were an important antidote to another element of the festival; “In this context, people are prone to be introverted; focussing just on juggling and so they forget to be playful and socialise.”
The clowns are enjoyed by those who watched and those who participated. Many accept the games proposed by the clowns actively participating in the safety procedures offered, while others passively allow themselves to kept within a taped out cordon. Some people are initially confused by the mixed signals of authority displayed by the safety vest. “People didn’t understand at first. They saw the high viz vest and saw it as authority. And then they saw the red nose and they clicked that it was a game.” An observer noted that the clowns were an important antidote to another element of the festival; “In this context, people are prone to be introverted; focussing just on juggling and so they forget to be playful and socialise.”
ABOUT ROBYN
Robyn is a Bristol-based director, teacher and performer. With over 20 years experience she is a passionate practitioner of clowning, physical theatre, circus and street arts. She has a MA in Circus Directing, a Diploma of Physical Theatre Practice and trained with a long line of inspiring teachers including Holly Stoppit, Peta Lily, Giovanni Fusetti, Bim Mason, Jon Davison, Zuma Puma, Lucy Hopkins and John Wright.
Over the past five years she has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and a deep desire to address the injustices in the world. This specialism has developed through her Masters Research ‘Small Circus Acts of Resistance’, on the streets and in protests with the Bristol Rebel Clowns and in research residencies with The Trickster Laboratory. Robyn’s Activist Clown research has led to collaborations with Jay Jordan (Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, France), Clown Me In (Beirut), LM Bogad (US), Hilary Ramsden (Greece) and international Tricksters; ‘The Yes Men’ (US). During the pandemic in 2020, Robyn set up The Online Clown Academy with Holly Stoppit and developed a series of Zoom Clown Courses. Robyn’s research, started during her Masters, has been exploring the meeting point of clowning and activism, online, in the real world and with international collaborators. With this drive to explore political edges of her work she has also dived back into the world of the Bouffon; training with Jaime Mears, Bim Mason, Nathaniel Justiniano, Eric Davis, Tim Licata, Al Seed and the grand master Bouffon-himself; Philippe Gaulier. Keen to explore the intersection of clowning and politics, Robyn is driven to create collaborative, research spaces, testing and pushing the limits of the artform to create new knowledge and methodologies for her industry and strengthen partnerships for future work. Some of her most recent collaborations and teaching projects have included the Nomadic Rebel Clown Academy (5-day Activist Clown Training), The Laboratory of the Un-beautiful (Feminist Grotesque Bouffon Training for Womxn Theatre Makers) and the Clown Congress (annual gathering of clowns, activists & academics collectively exploring what it means to be a clown in this current era) |
Photo by HeardinLondon Photography
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